Tallahassee mounting legal challenge to Florida's 'anti-riot' law - Tallahassee Democrat
Tallahassee will mount a legal challenge to HB1, the state’s “anti-riot” law, with commissioners saying it infringes on free speech and encroaches on home rule.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, Tallahassee City Commissioners committed to engaging pro bono legal services to challenge the legislation that was among Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top 2021 priorities.
Mayor John Dailey first pitched challenging the law and was vocally opposed to it in March during the 2021 Legislative Session.
In a tweet Wednesday, he said: "We’re challenging HB1 because policy and budget decisions that affect your livelihood and well-being should be made by the government closest to the people with direct citizen input, not by the state through a line item veto."
Commissioner Jeremy Matlow called the law an “overreach” by state government in that it allows the governor to alter local government budgets should they decrease funding for their police departments. In the 2022 budget approved last month, the Tallahassee Police Department’s budget increased by $30 million.
Matlow also leveled concerns over the law's implications to First Amendment rights.
“This law is a solution looking for a problem and unfortunately in its search for a problem it has overstepped its boundaries,” Matlow said.
Eight other Florida cities pursuing legal challenges to rule
Eight other cities in Florida, most recently Gainesville, have already launched legal challenges to the legislation, which creates a number of new crimes and increased penalties connected to protests that turn violent or block traffic.
The law created a new definition of “riot,” criminalized “cyber intimidation by publication” — intended to bar the sharing of government officials’ contact information — and requires people arrested for the misdemeanor offense of unlawful assembly to be held without bail until their first appearance in court.
The city will sign on with three nonprofit organizations — the Public Rights Project, Community Justice Project and Southern Poverty Law Center — to file the suit free of cost to Tallahassee.
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker struck down the law in September after rebuffing a request by DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and local sheriffs –including Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil – to toss out the legal challenge.
“Its vagueness permits those in power to weaponize its enforcement against any group who wishes to express any message that the government disapproves of,” Walker wrote.
Attorneys for DeSantis notified a federal judge earlier this month that the state will appeal the decision.
He championed the law after nationwide protests focused on racial justice last year following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer.
City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox said Tallahassee was uniquely positioned to lead in opposing the law because of the number of protests that occur in the state capital.
Back story:
She noted state efforts to threaten financial penalties against all three major boards in Tallahassee — the Leon County School Board and Leon County Commission are facing fines over their coronavirus mitigation efforts — and now the City Commission.
“I think its proper we send a message to the rest of the state that we don’t think it’s OK,” Williams-Cox said. “There’s a great encroachment on what we can do as locals compared to the heavy hand on high. This sends a message that it’s enough.”
Contact Karl Etters at [email protected] or @KarlEtters on Twitter.
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source: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2021/10/13/tallahassee-lawsuit-florida-anti-riot-law-ron-desantis-protests-city-commission/8442781002/
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